Aircraft gun mounting



S. J. PALFREY AIRCRAFT GUN MOUNTING Filed March 18, 1945 I 5Sheets-Sheet 1' 5. J. PALFREY AIRCRAFT, GUN MOUNTING Filed March 18,1943 Spt. 18, 1945.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 18, 1945- V s. J. PA LFREY AIRCRAFT GUN MOUNTINGFiled March 18, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 m m m Sept. 18, 1945. s. J.PALFREY AIRCRAFT GUN'IMOUNTING Filed March 1a, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet Sept.18, 1945. s. J. PALFREY AIRCRAFT GUN MOUNTING Filed March 18, 1943 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 18, 1945 GUN MOUNTING Sydney JamesPalfrey, Swanland, England, as-' Signor to England Blackburn geareLimited, Brough,

' Application .1'8, 1943.,e3SerialNo; 45:9],580

In Great-Britain January 1:2, .1942

3 Claims. (o1. ce-37.5)

wThis invention ,;-relates :to improvements in mountings for automaticweapons and is concerned with :such mountings-for supportin fixed gunsin aircraft or' other enclosed spaces.

;An object of the present invention is :to :provide a mounting sguchtha-t the. gun may be displaced from its normal fixed firing positioninto a position in which itis readily accessible for servicing, cleaningorrepair.

According to-the'present invention the gun is supportedby a cradle orthe like which is secured to the aircraft .or other vehicle at twopointsabout one of which the-cradle may pivot whilst the other point iscapable of axial displacement to permit the gun to-be swung from normaloperative position .to an accessible position. Preferablyl-ther-e aretwoaligned pivot points and two axially displaceablepoints under commoncontrol to give strength and rigidity.

Further accordingto thezpres ent invention the aperture in the Wing,fuselage'or the other surface through which the-barrel of the gun (andpossibly also its cradle) projects-is covered by a louvre whichisdisplaceablewith thegu-n, The joint between the edges-of theelouvre andfuselage, wing or the othersurface is sealed .by a rubber packing. H

Access to the gun is obtained by removing a displaceable-panel,opening adoor, or similar operation, whereatter latching means .normallyretaining the movable securing point or points are releasedftopermitdisplacement thereof and consequent swinginglof the cradle or thelike to bring the .gun to accessible position. The axially displaceablesupport points preferably have limited extents of movement.

' Now in order thatlthe'mvention may be clearly understood'and readilycarriedinto effect; an embodiment thereof-is hereinafter more fullydescribed with reference to the accompanyingdrawings which are .givenfor purposes .of'illustration only andnotofilimitation.

' In these drawings:

Figure 1 a three-quarter rear view of the gun supporting cradle and itsattachment points shown invan aeroplanewing Q-f whichparts are omittedfor clarity,

.Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the gun on its cradlewith the latter in-its alternative oraccessibleposition,

IFigureBis a side sectional view. forwardly of the pivotpoint, whilst l..Figure 4 is .a side sectional view rearwardly r et qt f..Fi efi sa:Ians ct enai w an Figure 6 is a side view of. the latching meansshownwin tnormalposition in full line and in adjusted position inschainline.

Eeierring :now to the said drawings, the gun indicated :as'a whole bythe reference numeral iris monntedior :f-reerecoil movement on a cradlecomprising .a pair of side :members 2, 3 joined at their rear end .by amember l. At points intermediate the length of the members 2 and '3 arepivots :5,.6 .iiournalledjn brackets 1,18 mounted on some convenientfixed part vof the aircraft or other vehicle, for. example to spars 9,10 of a; wing in the example-illustrated. These pivots constitutenneof;the=main.i cmts of attachment Gfith gun supporting cradle and servealso as the pivot to permit angular displacement thereof to bring thegun into accessible position.

The second point of attachment is capable of axial displacement .fromnormal position to the accessible position and conveniently comprises a(tube II which engages the member -4 of the cradle and fis-arranged toslide in a sleeve .l2 icnime n ius 1. mad fastffio o convenientstationary 'part of the aircraft or other structure or to a supportingbracket 14 carried thereby. The sleeve 12 is adjustable in thebush l3accurately-to position the :gun, I in its f xed firing position-and thismovement is controlled .-by providing the sleeve witha-nexternal threadwith which mesh adjusting and locking nuts .15 'flfi situatedrespectively at opposite sides of the sleeve (see Figure F1). The tube His in its normal or operative position locked against movement withinthe sleeve by a detent or equivalent member l! which extends through thewallet the sleeve [2 and tubular member I;I;.( Fig11re;l).. detentmember 11 is {spring loaded to tendto enter through the apertureprovidedlk-in .thetube H and is positively withdrawn as more 'fullydescribed later.

When the detentmember 11 is withdrawn the y from the sleeve 12 aprotuberance conveniently i -r '--.t-he: ,rormofacross bar 19 passesthrough the end of the tube'll suchthat the protuberance er crossbar 9will contact the sleeve l2 and prevent the tube LI separating therefrom.

fIhe detent-Lmember "is connected to a lever 20 .to which in turn .ismade .fast a manually Qlierwble handle 21. Aspringrfl isLprOVided andarranged to exert its force to restrain the handle 2| from leaving itsnormal position and it is this spring which loads the detent member IT.The handle 2| is normally locked to prevent accidental operation thereofwhich might release the detent member I! and this locking isconveniently effected by means of a spring loaded detent 23 passingthrough an aperture in a plate 24. This arrangement is such that when itis desired to swing the cradle from normal or operative position intoaccessible position the handle 2| is gripped by hand and the detent 23is lifted digitally to enable it to leave the hole in the plate 24. Thehandle 2| may now be rocked, so rocking the lever 20 and withdrawing the'detent member I! from engagement with the tube II which now commencesto slide in the sleeve I2 to allow the gun supporting cradle to rock.-

When this movement of the cradle commences,

the operator releases the handle 2| and on the tube I I reaching itslimit division, the detent member I! will engage in the holes I8 tolatch the gun carriage in its lower position. Should the detent memberfor any reason fail to engage the holes I8 or should the operator omitto release the handle 2I excessive displacement of the cradle will notoccur as the movement of the tube I is prevented by the protuberance orcross bar I9 already described.

In the installation illustrated there are two aligned pivot points andtwo axially movable points. The two levers are made fast to a co-m-. monshaft which is journalled in brackets 26. The one lever 20 is a doublearm lever as illustrated in Figure 6, whilst the other lever 20 needonly be a single arm lever as may be seen from Figure 4. In this way theoperation of the handle 2| withdraws both detent members IT to permitsimultaneous movement of the two tubes I I. To adapt the straight linemovement of the tube I I to the arcuate movement of the member 4 of thecradle the connection of the tube thereto is through a roller 21 actingin a slot 28 as may be seen in Figure 4. I

Where the barrel of the gun and in some cases also the ends of thecradle members 2, 3 project through the fuselage or other part of theaircraft or other vehicle for example the wing as illustrated, a curvedplate or louvre 29 is provided on the projecting portion and adapted tocover the opening. This louvre 29 is so mounted that on displacement ofthe gun I and its cradle it will be displaced over the outer surface ofthe wing, fuselage or other part. A rubber packing is provided at theedges of the louvre 29 to seal the same onto the surface of the wing orthe like. A fairing may be provided over the projecting portion of thegun or the gun and its cradle and this fairs ing will naturally movewith the gun on displace ment thereof;

Access to the gun may be obtained through a cover plate (not shown)which may be removed,

or through a doorway which may be opened to permit the operator to reachthe handle 2| and bring about displacement of the cradle to give himaccess to the gun which on being rocked is brought from an inaccessibleposition in which it is fired, into an accessible position for cleaning,repair, replacement, re-loading and such like servicing operationsthereon.

The cradle above described and illustrated in the drawings is suitablefor a variety of automatic guns but it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to any particular form of cradle since cradlesadapted for different kinds of fixed guns may be installed in aircraftor other vehicles in the manner described above. Furthermore thepivoting of the cradle may take place about an axis which is vertical,horizontal or otherwise disposed.

I claim:

1. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supporting the gun, two aligned.pivots about which the cradle is adapted to swing, two elongatedmembers movable in the direction of their length and in a directiontransverse of the axis about which the cradle is pivoted, said membersbeing connected to the cradle for supporting the cradle in differentpositions relative to the aligned pivotsfseparate means for latching theelongated members in diiferent positions, and means under a commoncontrol for operating the latching means for both elongated members.

2. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supporting the gun, pivotal meanssupporting the cradle from said structure, an elongated membermovable inthe direction of its length and in a direction transverse of the axisabout which the cradle is pivoted, said elongated member being carriedby said structure, a pinancl-slot connection between the elongatedmemher and the cradle ata point spaced from said pivotal supportingmeans, and latching means for preventing lengthwise movement of saidelongated member and movement of the cradle about the pivotal supportingmeans.

3. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supporting the gun, a pair ofaligned pivots forming one support for the cradle, an elongated membermovable in the direction of its length and in a direction transverse ofthe axis about which the cradle is pivoted, said elongated member beingconnected tothe cradle by a pinand-slot connection and forming a secondsupport for'the cradle, a sleeve in which said memher is slidablelengthwise, and latching means normally locking said member againstsliding movement'in said sleeve.

4. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supportingthe gun, pivotal meansfor supporting the cradle from said structure, a pair of sleeves carriedby said structure and extending in a direction-transverse of the axisabout which the cradle is pivoted, an elongated member slidablelengthwise in each sleeve and connected to the cradle at a point spacedfrom the pivotal supporting means to form a second support for thecradle, the connections between said elongated members and the cradlebeing constructed and arranged to compensate for the linear movement ofthe elongated members with respect to the arcuate. movement of thecradle when the cradle is swung on its pivotal supporting means,separate means latching each of said members in a position which'locksthe cradle against movement relative to'its pivotal supporting means, acommon control for operating the latching means for both elongatedmembers, and means for preventing unintentional sliding of saidelongated members completely out of the sleeves.

5. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supporting the gun, pivotal meansfor supporting the cradle from the supporting structure, a pair ofsleeves carried by said structure and extending in a directiontransverse of the axis about which the cradle is pivoted, an elongatedmember slidable lengthwise in each sleeve and extending beyond thesleeve at both ends, one end of each elongated member being connected tothe cradle at a point spaced from the pivotal supporting means to form asecond support for the cradle, the connections between said ends of theelongated members and the cradle being constructed and arranged tocompensate for the linear movement of the elongated members with respectto the arcuate movement of the cradle when the cradle is swung on itspivotal supporting means, means carried by said elongated membersadjacent their other ends for preventing unintentional sliding of themembers completely out of the sleeves, separate means for latching eachof said elongated members in a position relative to said sleeve whichlooks the cradle against movement relative to its pivotal supportingmeans, and means under a common control for operating the latching meansfor both elongated members.

6. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supporting the gun, pivotal meanssupporting the cradle from said structure, a pair of sleeves carried bysaid structure and extending in a direction transverse of the axis aboutwhich the cradle is pivoted, an elongated member slidable lengthwise ineach sleeve and connected to the cradle at a point spaced from thepivotal supporting means to form a second support for the cradle, aspring-loaded element movable transversely of each of said elongatedmembers and constructed and arranged to engage a portion of therespective elongated members to hold them in a predetermined position,and a common manuallyoperable means for retracting the spring-loadedelements from both elongated members to free them for sliding movementin their respective sleeves.

7. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supporting the gun, a pair ofaligned pivots pivotally supporting the cradle from said structure andforming one support for the cradle, a pair of sleeves carried by saidstructure and extending in a direction transverse of the axis aboutwhich the cradle is pivoted, means for adjustably positioning saidsleeves lengthwise relative to said structure, an elongated memberslidable lengthwise within each sleeve and connected to the cradle, theconnections between the elongated members and the cradle beingconstructed and arranged to compensate for the linear movement of theelongated members with respect to the arcuate movement of the cradlewhen the cradle is swung on its pivotal supporting means, separatelatching means normally latching each elongated member against slidingmovement in its sleeve, and means under a common control for operatingthe latching means for both elongated members.

8. An aircraft mounting for a gun or the like comprising a cradlemounted in the aircraft structure for supporting the gun, pivotal meanssupporting the cradle from said structure, a sleeve carried by saidstructure and extending in a direction transverse to the axis aboutwhich the cradle is pivoted, means for axially adjusting the sleeverelative to said structure, an elongated member slidable in said sleeveand connected to the cradle at a point spaced from the pivotalsupporting means to form a second support for the cradle, aspring-loaded element movable transverse to said elongated member andconstructed and arranged to engage a portion thereof to hold itin apredetermined position, manually-operable rockable means for retractingthe spring-loaded element to free the elongated member for slidablemovement in the sleeve, and manually-releasable latching means forholding said rockable means.

S. J. PALF'REY.

